Anna Zemánková was raised in a family dominated by an authoritarian mother. In 1933, she married an officer and had three sons; she later adopted another child, a daughter. She gave up her dental prosthetics career to devote herself to her children. Her first son died in 1939 at age 4—a loss she never fully recovered from. A few years after the war, the family moved to Prague. In the 1950s, Zemánková suffered long periods of depression. After turning 50, she began painting, drawing, and collaging heterogeneous organic figures (animals, plants, minerals), hybrid fruit clusters, and recomposed bodies. In 1982 and 1983, both her legs were amputated due to diabetes.
Following a strict ritual, she drew daily between 4 and 7 a.m. in a trance state, then resumed her activities more consciously during the rest of the day.